Kinomé

Nicolas' human development approach is based on three innovations. First, he brings together a diverse set of actors that do not traditionally work together on reforestation projects. These include youth, companies, local NGOs, schools, researchers and the general public. His "Forest and Life" Charter connects these players through a shared vision of global ethics related to issues of health, security, wellbeing and balance, inclusion, respect, access to knowledge, and the possibility to be a changemaker. This charter not only provides a set of common values for the movement, but also gives best practices and working standards related to how to plant trees, types of trees to use in communities, and usage of biological methods. Second, he defines the success of his work by focusing on "impact" versus "results". The impact of his projects is not measured by traditional indicators such as number of trees planted and number of community members participating in Kinomé's project; instead, he measures long-term performance, such as the real quality created for local communities (e.g. time that girls spend in school, improved access to water, women's empowerment.) Nicolas is designing a sophisticated VRM software (Verify Report Monitor) to measure these types of "impact" indicators. Nicolas sees this tool as useful beyond the reforestation field and is working to make it a standard impact measurement tool for international development work. Finally, Nicolas recognizes that to sustain the movement he must develop a new lifestyle of tree-friendly citizens. He therefore focuses on relinking individuals back to natural elements. He promotes the idea that forests are essential to societal wellbeing and works to change individual behaviors and attitudes towards trees. Recognizing the importance of giving youth a positive experience with nature, he always incorporates youth at the start of each Forest and Life project. For the general public, Forest and Life's online platform provides interactive learning tools where users can give trees as gifts and access basic information about trees, such as "what is a tree?", "why plant trees?" and "what can you do?"